Gendel the Northern Ireland biotechnology start-up, has secured £2 million sterling (€3.3 million) funding to enable it to take its research out of the laboratory and test it on humans.
Scientists at the firm in Coleraine, Co Derry, have developed a new approach to drug delivery that could become a multimillion pound weapon in the fight against vascular diseases and cancer.
The Gendel system allows the controlled delivery of drugs via red blood cells; these are loaded with drugs that can then be released on demand at specific sites in the human body using ultrasound.
The technique is understood to have a range of applications, particularly in administering toxic drugs, such as those used in chemotherapy. Conventional oral or injection-delivery methods have tended to introduce a drug to the entire circulatory system, which increases the chances of side effects. Gendel's system provides important control over where the drugs are released in the body.
Gendel chief executive Dr Les Russell said the next step was to test its system on humans.
The latest round of funding, led by the Belfast-based Crescent Capital, will finance the move from laboratory to human testing. Other major investors include the Northern Ireland-based Enterprise Equity, Scottish Equity Partners in Glasgow and PVJ, a Danish pension fund.
Dr Russell said: "What is really exciting is that our system can also be used to deliver novel gene-based drugs that are known to be effective in treating certain diseases but which cannot be used routinely because of the severe side effects they can cause when administered conventionally.
"We're in discussions with a number of interested parties about developing our technology further to enable us to open up largely untapped markets worth billions of dollars. We plan to raise further funding in the near future to accelerate these efforts," he added.
Mr Aidan Langan, investment manager with Crescent Capital, said the move from laboratory to human testing was a milestone for the company. Set up in 1998, it employs 11 people at the University of Ulster's Science Research Park.
Digital Theater Systems (DTS), a Los Angeles digital tech firm, will move its main Research and Development centre from the US to Northern Ireland in a £263,000 sterling investment that could create 18 jobs over the next three years. A pioneer in multi-channel audio, DTS is featured on more than 20,000 cinema screens worldwide; in home cinema, car audio, PC and game console products.
